Mandy Herrmann, of Allivet, on using smart data-driven marketing strategies to move the needle

I greatly enjoyed my chat with Mandy Herrmann, CMO at Allivet, a company that helps make pet parenting easier by providing convenient access to brand-name medications, expert pharmacy advice, and automatic delivery via its AutoShip program.

Our conversation focuses on the significance of mentorship, customer lifetime value, and data-driven marketing strategies in the marketing industry. We emphasize the need for experienced professionals to guide the next generation of marketers and for businesses to understand their customers’ needs and preferences. We explore the challenges of allocating marketing budgets in a multi-channel landscape and the importance of catering to customers’ needs through informational pop-ups and text on a website. We also discuss the role of veterinarians in the pet industry and the importance of understanding pet parents’ needs and concerns.

Discussion topics include:

• The importance of understanding the lifetime value of customers and figuring out how to keep them engaged with the platform.
• How ecommerce platforms face challenges in catering to customers without direct interaction, requiring innovative marketing strategies.
• The importance of understanding the influencer landscape in the pet health industry, where micro influencers with strong loyalty can be more impactful than larger influencers with millions of followers.
• The need to work with authorities in the pet health industry, such as veterinarians or pharmacists, to build trust and reputation for the brand.
• The importance of understanding the customer journey and investing in channels that align with each stage of the funnel.
• The concept of loss leaders in retail, where a company may be willing to break even or lose money on a product to drive customer acquisition and cross-selling.
• The value of segmentation and clustering to identify customer profiles and tailor marketing efforts for maximum impact.
• The emotional connection to animals and its impact on advertising.
• Why marketers must adapt to LLM optimization for chatbots and voice.